Who?
by Rule12H8r
Summary: Tony talks down a killer. Tony admits something. Who is he talking about? Read, review, enjoy!


This case was tough. They had been on it for a week straight now and they seemed to be hitting a dead end.

Gibbs was talking less and yelling more.

Tim's eyes had practically glazed over from hours of sitting in front of the computer staring at the screen.

Abby's lab had her drowning in empty Caf-Pows.

Ziva had not spoken to her boyfriend, Ray, in days because she had not been home except for a few hours the other day to sleep, but she got home late and did not have time for him to come over. Her hair was wild and messy from sleeping at her desk.

Tony, who had not slept at all the night before, staying up and working, fueled purely by caffeine and the threat of a head-slap leering behind him, sit slumped at his desk, reanalyzing their notes on the case so far. His jacket was wrinkled and his eyes were drooping, fighting to remain awake.

The elevator dinged and for the third time already that morning, Gibbs marched into the bullpen with a fresh coffee. It was about 10:30.

"Got anything?" He barked.

"Not yet." Ziva called back. Tony shook his head slowly from side to side, eyes closed, not wanting to open again.

Gibbs huffed, slamming his coffee down in frustration.

McGee's eyes darted up from his screen.

"It's Burtow." All eyes fell on McGee as he clicked to put what he needed up on the plasma.

A photo ID image of their victim, Allison Verton's, boyfriend Derek Burtow popped up.

Next to it popped up notes from Verton's coworker, and friend, Rachel Gooding's interview.

"Gooding said she hadn't seen Burtow in weeks and Allison hadn't been talking about him at all lately. Burtow said they were fine." He started. Another image came up to dominate the screen, followed by two other images.

They were all from different days. Verton was in all of them, with another man.

McGee zoomed in on the man's face.

"This is Sean Carlson. Every Friday night Verton went to dinner with him for the past two weeks and they went to a concert together last Friday."

"She was cheating on him." Ziva realized. Her and Tony both knew what was coming. They reached into their desk drawers, fishing out their guns to holster them. Badges came next.

"Burtow wanted revenge." DiNozzo finished, snatching his gear from wear it slouched against his desk.

"Where" Gibbs ordered, not asking but demanding to know.

McGee's fingers still jabbed at the keys, hurrying in the need for answers.

"I doubt he's keeping her at his house," He looked up at his boss for a confirmation. His response was a brief nod. "But he does have a large storage unit in Brentwood."

"Let's go!" Gibbs announcing, clipping his gun into the holster and he bustles over to the elevator. His team follows obediently. Tony and Ziva are right behind him since they were already prepared, and McGee was just a few steps behind them, grabbing his gun and holstering it in the elevator.

The trip should have taken twenty minutes, but with Gibbs driving just barley better than Ziva's they got there in ten.

They skidded through the rows of storage lockers, hunting for the right one and slamming the brakes as they found it.

Four agents jumped out of the car and Ziva stepped forward, picking the lock. DiNozzo and McGee were right behind her, waiting until she stepped away they stood near the sides of the unit and pulled up the garage like door. Immediately, they were exposed. They all entered at once.

"Federal Agents" Gibbs yelled, spying Burtow who was pacing inside.

Burtow's head snapped up, now aware of the agents he bolted down a row of shelves and turned right.

Gibbs dashed down a row two to the right of the one Burtow just ran through, Tim followed behind Burtow. Ziva went to the right row, Tony to the far left.

They reached the back in time to see Burtow yank Allison up off of the chair she had been sitting in, holding the barrel of the gun up to her head. She yelped at the abruptness of it all, gasping at the coldness of the metal brushing against her blonde curls.

Her hazel eyes pleaded for help, dancing from one agent to another.

Each agent had their guns trained on Derek. Derek turned quickly from left to right, getting a good look at the agents surrounding him. He held Allison against him, directly in front of him. With him spinning from side to side, no agent had a clear shot. They couldn't get him without shooting Allison as well, and none of them would let that happen.

Derek's eyes landed on Tim, who was closest to him, practically daring him to make a move.

Before either of them could make a move Tony, not so quietly, laid his gun down on the ground in front of him.

Burtow swung his head to face Tony now instead.

"That wasn't a good idea." Derek smirked.

Tony stepped forward, just barely and held up his empty palms near his head.

"Why?" Tony asked, his voice sounding genuinely curious, even though he already knew.

Derek's jaw tightened and his eyes swept across the room before returning to the unarmed agent.

"Why are you doing this to her? She is your girlfriend after all, don't you love her?" Tony asked just barely shuffling forward again.

Anger flared intensely in Derek's eyes. Shock slackened his jaw. His grip on Allison minutely loosened. Tony took another small step closer. Gibbs and the rest of the team stood nervously, guns still drawn. They waited for the perfect position to get a good shot.

"Of course I love her! More than anything." Derek raged.

"You wouldn't hold a gun up to her head if you loved her Derek." Tony said calmly.

"You don't understand."

"So explain"

His grip on Verton tightened. Tony took a half step forward. Gibbs shifted, not comfortable with his agent being unarmed. Tim stared directly at Allison, silently encouraging her to stay calm. His eyes told her she was safe, that she would get out of this. Ziva's eyes filled with concern. They stayed glued to Derek even though her mind was solely devoted to Tony. Unarmed Tony. Tony, trying to talk his way out of a bad situation. If anyone could get through this it was him.

Burtow's gun was no longer brushing against Allison's hair. It was flush against her skull.

"She cheated on me. She betrayed me." Burtow gritted out.

"So why don't you just break up, move on. There are other girls Derek. You don't have to ruin everything like this." Tony persuaded, still trying to shuffle closer.

"I love her too much." Derek tilted his head to speak into Allison's ear. "You were supposed to be it for me. We could have gotten married. You abandoned me, Al. You are my everything. You loved him instead. What's so great about him?" His attention was now back on Tony.

"It wasn't meant to be Derek." Tony tried to calm him.

"I love Allison. She doesn't love me back. If I don't get the love I want why should she?" Burtow demanded once again. There was a silent pause. "Do you have any idea what it's like to love a woman who doesn't love you back?" He asked, now desperate.

"I have. I do." Tony answered honestly. "The woman I love, loves someone else. I love her more than anything. She is priceless." Ziva snapped her head to him at that. Her gun was still trained on Derek, but her focus was solely on Tony now.

"She is my hero and I could never love anyone more, but I am letting her do what she wants."

"Why should you?" Burtow interrupted. Him grip loosened more. The gun pulled back almost immeasurably.

"If you love someone enough, you would do anything to let them be happy. My girl, she was content, but now I think she can really be happy."

"What's her name?" Derek asked, now curious.

"Sophie."

Ziva's breathe caught. _Sophie and Jean-Paul Ranier. He cannot be serious. He must be making this up, just pulling out random thoughts._

"If you love her, let her be happy Derek. You love her don't you?" Tony persisted.

Another step forward, Tony held out his empty hand, he was now just more than an arm's length away from him. Derek's hands were shaking as his arm dropped from Allison's waist. His eyes watered. The gun dropped into Tony's hand.

"I'm so sorry All, I love you so much baby." Derek said. He was shaking visibly.

Tony stepped away, holding Derek's gun and turning around to retrieve his own. Ziva lowered her gun. McGee pulled Burtow by the elbow and handcuffed his wrists. Gibbs put a fatherly hand on Allison's shoulder. Allison was led out to the car where Gibbs gave her a water bottle and sat her down in the back seat. McGee had Derek stand against the wall while they called for another car.

Ziva and Tony stayed exactly where they were, the only change was that they now faced each other directly.

"He does not make me happy Tony. Only one man can do that, and he let me go." Ziva stated softly.

"He did it because he loves you. I was afraid Zi." The change from speaking in third person didn't go unnoticed.

"Do not be a coward Tony."

"I love you Zi." Tony whispered.

Ziva pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and stared directly at Tony.

He was completely lost until the person on the voicemail got her message on the other end.

"Hi Ray, it is Ziva. We need to talk. Call when you get this." She said shortly, ending the call and sliding her phone back into her pocket.

Ziva closed the distance between them.

"I love you too." They were now only a hair away from each other. Their heads were tilted perfectly so that if they moved just an inch, they would be kissing.

The door opened again and the parted, just barely. McGee called to them.

"Second car is here. Me and Gibbs are bringing Burtow in. You two need to bring Verton back to base. Gibbs wants Ducky to check her over before she does her witness statement." McGee relayed the instructions distractedly and jogged back out to the car.

Tony smirked. "Let's go ninja." He leaned in and quickly brushed a tender kiss across her lips, put a hand on the small of her back and guided her to walk ahead of him until she was moving on her own.

"Hello Allison. I am Agent Ziva David, this is Agent Tony DiNozzo. Ready to head back down to the Navy base?" Ziva asked, guiding Allison away from Gibbs toward the other car. They all got in while Gibbs, Tim, and Burtow drove ahead of them, turning off onto the street.

"Please. I just want to get home."

"Soon Private, soon I promise." Ziva ensured.

There was silence for a while, none of them having anything to say, even Tony.

After five minutes of silence, Allison chose to break it. She looked out the window as she spoke.

"So who was that luck lady you were talking about back there?"


End file.
